Review: Da Vinciís Demons

Da Vinciís Demons is a light, good humored series placed in approximately the same period and geographical region with the action in than The Borgias; XV century Florence, Italy. The main character is a likeable non-conformist and a bit into drugs, young Leonardo Da Vinci. The series is fast paced, full of action, crimes, sex and extramarital relationships, power games, secret brotherhoods, a mysterious book and of course beautiful femme fatale Lucrezia Donati (Laura Haddock).

The main character, young Leonardo Da Vinci (Tom Riley), is caught in the middle of the two dominant powers of the time - the Medici Family and the Pope. Leonardo pursues his own ambitions, one of his main goals being to see his inventions become reality. Leonardo is haunted by childhood memories, especially the memory of his mother who disappeared when he was just a baby. He also remembers a later time when, as a child, he enters a cave and comes out covered in blood, without remembering exactly what happened there. We immediately know that thereí more to these memories and dreams and that somehow they will define Leonardoís character and shed more light into the mysterious character of his mother.

As for the power games of the tome, on one hand, thereís Pope Sixtus IV, a not so holy character whose sexual preferences are at least questionable, and that seems more than happy to condemn his enemies to the flames of hell, on the other hand, there is the Medici family, headed by Lorenzo Medici and struggling to hold power and maintain Florence independent.

Verdict:

Da Vinciís Demons is fun, and thereís plenty action to keep you entertained for 40 minutes or so on each episode. Furthermore, we get to see some of Da Vinciís ideas for various war-machines put to work. Overall, the series is promising, and thereís no reason to miss this one out.